Vegas Golden Knights open road trip with another loss in Buffalo

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BUFFALO, NY – JANUARY 14: Marcus Johansson #90 of the Buffalo Sabres controls the puck against Nick Holden #22 of the Vegas Golden Knights during an NHL game on January 14, 2020 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Notes & Stats

This was the Vegas Golden Knights lineup to start the game…

Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stephenson-Stone
Nosek-Stastny-Tuch
Carrier-Eakin-Reaves

McNabb-Schmidt
Holden-Theodore
Hague-Engelland

Fleury

Here are some key stats from the game:

SOG – VGK: 26 – BUF: 26
FO% – VGK: 46% – BUF: 54%
PP – VGK: 1/3 – BUF: 2/3
PIM – VGK: 8 – BUF: 8
HITS – VGK: 21 – BUF: 16
BLKS – VGK: 6 – BUF: 18
GVA – VGK: 6 – BUF: 9

And here is the Official Scoring Summary from the game:

Tomas Nosek (6) – Stephenson (7), Theodore (21) – 1:55 / 2nd
Kyle Okposo (5) – PPG – Reinhart (22), Sheary (9) – 6:32 / 2nd
Sam Reinhart (16) – PPG – Ristolainen (17), Eichel (33) – 19:41 / 2nd
Reilly Smith (19) – PPG – Theodore (22), Karlsson (24) – 1:43 / 3rd
Jack Eichel (28) – Reinhart (23), Miller (6) – 7:57 / 3rd
Curtis Lazar (6) – Unassisted – 19:35 / 3rd

BUFFALO, NY – JANUARY 14: Linus Ullmark #35, Rasmus Ristolainen #55, Zemgus Girgensons #28, and Lawrence Pilut #24 of the Buffalo Sabres defend against Nicolas Hague #14 and Alex Tuch #89 of the Vegas Golden Knights during an NHL game on January 14, 2020 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Let’s go over some notes from the game:

The Vegas Golden Knights are now 24-19-6 on the year and are fifth in the Pacific Division following this loss.
Vegas is also now 10-9-3 on the road this season and they are going to have to improve in that area given that they still have seven games left on this road trip.
They bucked one trend in that they didn’t allow a goal in the first period for the first time in 2020, although it was thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury who was kept busy in the opening 20-minutes.
Vegas had their moments during this game but, in truth, they didn’t do quite enough to win this contest and they have now dropped four straight.
This roster is flawed and the front office will need to address the blueline and a lack of secondary scoring at the Trade Deadline. If they don’t, it could be tough down the stretch.
Because, at the end of the day, the Golden Knights find themselves in a stacked Pacific Division and they can’t afford to keep going on four or five-game losing streaks.
Marc-Andre Fleury was solid, stopping 22 of the 25 shots fired at him, and he was particularly impressive in the first period.
Tomas Nosek recorded his sixth goal of the year after seeing a puck bounce in the net off his skate, with Chandler Stephenson registering his seventh assist of the year on the goal.
Shea Theodore recorded a two-point night with two assists, and the defenseman now has 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) on the year.
William Karlsson snapped a seven-game streak without a point after tallying a secondary assist on Reilly Smith’s 19th goal of the year.
It wasn’t a great game for Karlsson, however, with the forward giving up the puck in his own zone which led to Buffalo making it a tied game in the second period.
Okay, so he’s not a Vegas player, but can we just take a moment to appreciate how elite a player Jack Eichel is please? The superstar center finished with a two-point night, including a stunning effort to beat Marc-Andre Fleury with what proved to be the go-ahead goal.
Sam Reinhart also enjoyed a big night for the Sabres, potting a goal and tallying two primary helpers for a three-point night.
It was also an interesting night for former Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Colin Miller, who missed a wide-open net in the first period before going to the box and watching as Reilly Smith converted on the power play. Miller did have the last laugh, however, as he provided the secondary assist on Jack Eichel’s go-ahead goal.
Vegas is now 3-2-0 against the Buffalo Sabres all-time.
Both teams finished with a grand total of 26 shots, while the Knights won only 46% of their draws in the faceoff circle.
Vegas went 1-for-3 on the power play but their penalty kill was awful as Buffalo converted on two of their three attempts on the man advantage, going 6-for 14 in their last five games.
The Knights on the other hand now have the 19th ranked penalty kill (78.8) in the National Hockey League.
Vegas outhit the Sabres 21-16 although they had just six blocked shots compared to Buffalo’s 18.
Shea Theodore led all Vegas Golden Knights skaters in total ice time with 23:04 minutes, including 2:26 minutes of power play time.
The Official Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Sam Reinhart 2. Jack Eichel 3. Kyle Okposo

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